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Imantaghavi Posted 12 years ago
Grammar
Regular VS. irregular past tense pattern
Hi,
In the book "Linguistics._An_Introduction_2009_Spencer_Radford_Atkinson" I found the following:
"Of course, there are more irregular past tense forms than there are irregular third person singular forms, but they are far outweighed by the regular forms, and in these circumstances, intuition suggests that the regular pattern would prevail first.
There are two observations bearing on this order of acquisition. Firstly, the irregular forms, while relatively small in number, include some of the most frequently occurring verbs in English (was, had, came, went, brought, took, etc.). Secondly, the regular pattern does indeed prevail but only after a period during which the irregular forms are correctly produced. A consequence of this is the phenomenon of overregularisation, when the child incorrectly applies the regular past tense formation rule to a base form which, in the adult language,requires an irregular process."
I cannot understand whether regular patterns or irregular pattern prevails first. Why?
I really need help on this.
Thank you in advance,
Iman
In the book "Linguistics._An_Introduction_2009_Spencer_Radford_Atkinson" I found the following:
"Of course, there are more irregular past tense forms than there are irregular third person singular forms, but they are far outweighed by the regular forms, and in these circumstances, intuition suggests that the regular pattern would prevail first.
There are two observations bearing on this order of acquisition. Firstly, the irregular forms, while relatively small in number, include some of the most frequently occurring verbs in English (was, had, came, went, brought, took, etc.). Secondly, the regular pattern does indeed prevail but only after a period during which the irregular forms are correctly produced. A consequence of this is the phenomenon of overregularisation, when the child incorrectly applies the regular past tense formation rule to a base form which, in the adult language,requires an irregular process."
I cannot understand whether regular patterns or irregular pattern prevails first. Why?
I really need help on this.
Thank you in advance,
Iman
Top answer
I found the full text at Google Books. "), which makes the passage easier to understand. It is saying that one would intuitively expect the regular pattern to initially prevail, and for irregular forms to be acquired later.
- I found the full text at Google Books.
- "), which makes the passage easier to understand.
- It is saying that one would intuitively expect the regular pattern to initially prevail, and for irregular forms to be acquired later.
- However, the study cited shows that, in fact, irregular forms are acquired at the outset, then temporarily abandoned for incorrect regularly-formed forms, and then reacquired.
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4 Answers
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I found the full text at Google Books. You omitted a sentence (the one starting "The surprise package ..."), which makes the passage easier to understand.
It is saying that one would intuitively expect the regular pattern to initially prevail, and for irregular forms to be acquired later. However, the study cited shows that, in fact, irregular forms are acquired at the outset, then tempor
It is saying that one would intuitively expect the regular pattern to initially prevail, and for irregular forms to be acquired later. However, the study cited shows that, in fact, irregular forms are acquired at the outset, then tempor
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Thank you GPY.
So what you mean is that children acquire irregular forms first(prior to regular forms), then abandon them due to incorrect use and then reacquire them correctly after regular forms. right?
Regards,
Iman
So what you mean is that children acquire irregular forms first(prior to regular forms), then abandon them due to incorrect use and then reacquire them correctly after regular forms. right?
Regards,
Iman
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imantaghaviThank you GPY.So what you mean is that children acquire irregular forms first(prior to regular forms), then abandon them due to incorrect use and then reacquire them correctly after regular forms. right?Regards,ImanDo you have the full text? Examples are given just below. It says that children go through a stage where their performance on past tens
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